Serbian GM Nikola Sedlak (2537) took sole lead after the end of the 4th round with a perfect score of 4.0/4.
India’s IM N. Srinath (2464) could only draw with GM Suat Atalik (2564) with the white pieces to stay in the hunt with 3.5/4. Untitled Indian Md. Nubairshah Shaikh (2423) meanwhile continued with his solid performance with another draw to stand at 2.5/4.
Check the pairings for Round 5 here.
The 6th round of the 42nd Indian Women Challengers Chess Championship saw Vaishali R retain her perfect score as she overcame IM Nisha Mohota with the black pieces. After a rather strange opening, the chances looked evenly balanced. However, in the middlegame, Vaishali got a strong attack going on the King side which ultimately resulted in a swift victory for the Tamil Nadu player.
Meanwhile, the 2nd-board game between Nimmy A. G. and Michelle Catherina ended in peace while top seed Tania Sachdev scored a victory over Priyanka K on the 3rd board.
After 6 rounds, Vaishali R leads the pack with a fantastic tally of 6/6, followed by 5 players on 5/6.
Round 6 Results: Click Here
GM Fabiano Caruana (2805) of USA won his fifth straight game to clinch the Dortmund title in style with a total tally of 5.5/7.
In a bid to wrest his lost lead and win the title at any cost, German GM Dieter Nisipeanu (2654) chose to play the Evans Gambit, an opening where white sacrifices a pawn early in the game to gain attacking chances. The strategy soon backfired when Caruana, far from being surprised in the opening, smartly managed his pieces to trade the right ones, sacrificed a pawn back to develop all his pieces and proceeded to soundly outplay Nisipeanu to win the tournament in style.
GM Wesley So (2778) of USA meanwhile managed to beat GM Vladimir Kramnik with the white pieces and jump to tie for the second spot with Nisipeanu at 4.0/7.
Final Standings:
| Rank | Name | Score | Elo |
| 1 | Caruana, Fabiano | 5.5/7 | 2805 |
| 2 | So, Wesley | 4.0/7 | 2778 |
| 3 | Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter | 4.0/7 | 2654 |
| 4 | Kramnik, Vladimir | 3.5/7 | 2783 |
| 5 | Naiditsch, Arkadij | 3.0/7 | 2722 |
| 6 | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | 3.0/7 | 2720 |
| 7 | Hou, Yifan | 2.5/7 | 2676 |
| 8 | Meier, Georg | 2.5/7 | 2654 |
“Junior world champion, country’s youngest Grandmaster when he became one (Parimarjan Negi broke his mark in 2006) and part of the only Indian team that won a Chess Olympiad medal (bronze, 2014), Pendyala Harikrishna has done enough to draw the kind of attention he doesn’t. But then, a chess player’s journey is seldom followed with the fervour reserved for spectator sports.
Those who pursue excellence do so quietly, hardly creating flutter even when they achieve. Harikrishna’s triumph at Edmonton International in Canada last week can be categorised among those. The 10-player field had Elo ratings ranging from 2733 to as low as 2133, with former World No 2 Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, China’s Asia No 2 Wang Hao and Indian GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly adding weight. Harikrishna drew with them and beat the rest to finish a point ahead with 7.5.
This is likely to secure the 29-year-old a career-best Elo rating of 2740. His 2733 before the event was already the best for an Indian after Viswanathan Anand, whose highest has been 2814. Harikrishna’s world ranking of 25 is third best for Indians after Krishnan Sasikiran, who was 21 in 2007. While Sasikiran has fallen to 76 at 2642, Harikrishna hasn’t dipped under 2700 since September 2013. “Rankings are not so important as they were a couple of years ago. Not many know I was 25 in 2006, although my rating was 2680. So I didn’t feel special when I reached 25. I was happy with my play because that’s what matters. I won a closed tournament after almost three years, after Wijk Aan Zee in 2012,” Harikrishna told Express via email.
“Every victory is important. I played good games and it helps me evaluate my strength. Every tournament gives me a chance to test my skills. If I play well consistently, I can improve further. I’m happy so far the way I’m playing. There are areas to improve. I have to work on them to go higher,” said the player from Guntur, who will take part in club leagues in Turkey and Spain.
The Spanish league is where Anand plied his trade for a long time. A football fan, the former world champion often compared Russia with Real Madrid. Harikrishna too takes interest in other sports. “I like playing tennis, badminton, basketball, table tennis, whichever is available. Don’t read a lot of books. Chess makes me calm and makes me sit,” quipped the BPCL employee, who was coached by Gary Kasparov’s former second Evgeny Vladimirov in formative years. “I’ve been out since childhood. Travelling is the best thing for me!”
This liking for travel has earned him a place on the global chess map, even though the journey has been low-key. As long he keeps heading north, Harikrishna shouldn’t mind.”
PS: When I attempted to read this article on the original news site from my mobile, I was greeted with a Spam virus Ad popup. Thereafter there was another Ad which started playing Audio without me doing anything. Hence decided to copy-paste the complete article here to avoid the same frustration to the readers.
Original source: newindianexpress.com
After 5 rounds of the 42nd National Women Challengers Chess Championship 2015, Vaishali R from Tamil Nadu is ruling the roost with a perfect score of 5/5. A victory over WGM Bhakti Kulkarni of Goa has put Vaishali in the sole lead, just ahead of Nisha Mohota, Nimmy A.G. and Michelle Catherina, all of whom are on 4.5 points each.
Meanwhile, top seed Tania Sachdev is on the joint 3rd spot with 6 others.
The 6th round will be an interesting one as Vaishali will meet the experienced IM Nisha Mohota while Nimmy and Michelle will clash against each other.
Round 5 Results: Click Here
After 6 intense rounds of the World Open 2015, as many as 12 (!) players are leading the table with a total of 5 points each. The pack of leaders includes 10 Grandmasters and 2 International Masters.
Meanwhile, Indian IM Ashwin Jayaram crossed the 2500-mark in the live ratings and, with all the required norms completed, is set to become India’s latest Grandmaster. He is currently in the joint 2nd spot at this tournament with 9 others.
Standings after Round 6: http://chessevents.com/2015/07/world-open-2015-standings-open-section/
Chinese GM Wang Yue (2716) moved into sole lead with a victory over prodigy GM Wei Yi (2724). He stands at 2.5/3.
The highest rated Chinese player GM Ding Liren (2749) meanwhile won his game against IM Wang Chen (2521) to stay in the hunt with 2.0/3. India’s GM Krishnan Sasikiran (2640) could only draw with World Junior Champion GM Lu Shanglei (2595) and stands at 1.0/3.
Check the Round 4 pairings here.
USA’s GM Fabiano Caruana (2805) defended accurately and eventually beat Chinese GM Hou Yifan (2676) to take the lead going into the last round.
Co-leader GM Dieter Nisipeanu (2654) of Germany could only hold Russian GM Vladimir Kramnik (2783). He needs to beat Caruana in the final round to win the tournament while a draw would suffice for the American.
Standings after Round 6:
| Rank | Name | Score | Elo |
| 1 | Caruana, Fabiano | 4.5/6 | 2805 |
| 2 | Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter | 4.0/6 | 2654 |
| 3 | Kramnik, Vladimir | 3.5/6 | 2783 |
| 4 | So, Wesley | 3.0/6 | 2778 |
| 5 | Naiditsch, Arkadij | 2.5/6 | 2722 |
| 6 | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | 2.5/6 | 2720 |
| 7 | Hou, Yifan | 2.0/6 | 2676 |
| 8 | Meier, Georg | 2.0/6 | 2654 |
A fantastic run of form in the later part of the tournament proved rewarding for the Spanish GM Del Rio De Angelis Salvador as he convincingly won the 23rd edition of Montcada Open Chess Tournament. Del Rio finished with a total score of 7.5 and remained undefeated throughout this 9-round event.
The second place was bagged by GM Narciso Dublan who also remained undefeated while notching up 7 points. Meanwhile, as many as 6 players, including Indian IM Thejkumar, finished joint 3rd with 6.5/9. On the tie-breaks, Thejkumar finished a creditable 5th in the final rankings.
Final Standings: http://www.chess-results.com/tnr155515.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=9&turdet=YES&flag=30&wi=984
Chinese prodigy GM Wei Yi (2724) won a spectacular game with the white pieces against Cuba’s GM Lazaro Batista. In a Sicilian Tajmanov position, Wei Yi unleashed a flurry of tactics to win in a breathtaking fashion.
GM Krishnan Saiskiran meanhile could only draw with IM Wang Chen (2521) to move to 0.5/2.
Check the pairings for Round three here.